He lets out a disgruntled little groan and reaches in, past me, to unbuckle my seatbelt.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” I try to protest, but his arms reach behind my back and knees, and he literally hauls me out of the car.
I struggle, but it's useless—he's too strong, and there's no one around to help me. He puts me down and drags me toward a rusty metal door, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t fight him.
Inside, Valentin pulls me up a narrow staircase to the second floor, down a hallway, and into a small room where a balding man sits behind a desk.
“The papers are ready,” the man says to Valentin. Then, I don’t know if I imagine it, but I swear he looks at me with something like pity.
Then, he leaves the room without another word.
Valentin guides me to the desk and pulls out some papers from a manila envelope, reading them before pulling out a pen from his pocket. Then, he turns to me and hands me the papers and the pen.
“Sign.”
“What?” I screech in disbelief. “I’m not signing anything!”
“Yes, you are!” He clicks his tongue and shoves the papers in my hands. I look down, simply out of curiosity, and what I see makes my knees shake.
Marriage license.
I forget to breathe for a second as my knees go wobbly.
“What is the meaning of this?” I ask, the papers trembling in my hands.
“It’s the only way I know you’ll be safe.” He shoves the pen at me, but I refuse to take it.
I stare at him in disbelief. “You're insane if you think I'm signing that.”
“You don't have a choice.” His voice changes then, turning cold and hard, just as it had when he spoke to the men in my office. “Sign it.”
“No!” I cry out, taking a step back.
He inches closer until he towers over me. “Listen carefully, Gela. If you don't sign this willingly, I will make you. Do you understand? Those men are dangerous, and they’ve only gotten started. Today, they didn’t just pull out a gun to show youa shiny new toy. They meant to use it. So, unless you want to end up dead, you sign these fucking papers because I’m the only one who can protect you, sweetheart.”
His threat chills me to the bone. I look into his eyes, the ones I used to dream about until hours ago, and all I see is a monster.
Chapter 5 - Valentin
I see the exact moment Gela’s expression turns from confusion and fear to shock and rage. Her trembling lip straightens up, right along with her spine, and she folds her arms in front of her, the papers crushing as she does.
“Are you threatening me?” She steps forward until she’s glaring up at me. “What do you think, Valentin—if that’s even your real name—that you’re some kind of savior? That I can’t survive without you? Those criminals, as you say, knew you too. And now you expect me to thank you and sign along whatever dotted line you tell me to?”
Her eyes burn into me. Just this morning, they’d been soft when she batted her lashes at me. Now she looks at me like I’m a monster.
Well, that’s fine by me. She doesn’t get it yet, but Gela Jones needs to be broken of her delusions about running away from this. If she hates me, I can live with her anger, but I can’t let her walk out of here knowing she could wind up dead.
“I don’t expect a thank you.” I step closer to, until I feel the heat off her skin. “I just expect you to sign that marriage license.”
“No way in hell.” She shakes her head.
“It’s the only way you live. I’m not making it up, Gela.”
“You’re insane.” She refuses to see the truth. “I have options. I’ll figure it out. I don’t need your protection.”
“What are your options, Gela?” I cut her off, angrily. She flinches, and I force myself to lower my tone. “Tell me your brilliant plan.”
“I can call the police, and they’ll put me in witness protection. Or I’ll go back to my family in Minnesota. But you can’t expect me to marry you! I don’t even know you.”
